Censor Anti-Islamic Books? [Weblog] - Daniel Pipes Brief reference to a book by Craig Winn entitled "Prophet of Doom: Islam's Terrorist Dogma, In Muhammad's Own Words" - which is available on the Internet and in print. Pipes' discussion refers to the issue of whether censorship of such a volume (which has a negative perspective on Islam) is appropriate.

RAND: Out of the Ordinary - Finding Hidden Threats by Analyzing Unusual Behavior Links to PDF report whose abstract promises the following (I haven't tackled this one yet!): "The Atypical Signal Analysis and Processing schema identifies atypical behavior potentially related to terror activity; puts it into context; generates and tests hypotheses; and focuses analysts’ attention on the most significant findings. A supporting conceptual architecture and specific techniques for identifying and analyzing out-of-the-ordinary information are also described."

Asia Times - Pentagon uncovers propaganda failures: "Al-Qaeda and radical Islamists are winning the propaganda war against the United States, says a high-level Pentagon panel, which concluded that President George W Bush's administration's policies in the Middle East, its fundamental failure to understand the Muslim world and a lack of imagination in using new communications technologies are responsible. "

"They are victims of a growing catalogue of botched terrorism investigations -- cases that start out with a bang of charges but ultimately collapse with a whimper, Correspondent Lesley Stahl reports ...

" ... "What happened was the computer analyst screwed up the analysis early on. Determined that he thought that the stuff had been sent over the Internet," says Key. "And then within weeks, they were told by the No. 3 computer investigator in the Air Force that wasn’t true."

AP Wire | 11/27/2004 | Extremism Worries Muslims in Britain " ... Yasin Rehman, a spokesman at the moderate Council of Mosques in Luton, a poor city north of London, said al-Muhajiroun remains an active recruiter under different names. Such groups hold private meetings and study circles, and distribute leaflets at mosques that condemn the death of civilians in the fighting in Fallujah as "genocide.""

Economist.com | Charlemagne: " ... Mr Wilders quotes Dutch academics who estimate that around 10-15% of the Dutch population of 1m Muslims sympathise with jihadist ideology. He says that the 150 suspected terrorists should be deported or imprisoned immediately. But he also demands a similar fate for those Dutch citizens who endorse jihadist ideology, whether in print, in a sermon or in an internet chat-room."

"'We are committed to intensifying armed attacks against coalition forces and their spies and agents... in response to the Sharm el-Sheikh conference, a sordid and suspect farce,' said the statement signed by groups including the Al-Qaeda Group in the Land of Two Rivers (Iraq) of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi."

aljazeerah.info, When Seeing Is Not Believing By Linda Heard Intriguing opinion piece [not from al-Jazeera.net!], "So nice of the terrorist to put up an Al-Qaeda sign on the wall just in case his visitors were confused about where they were, and it was even nicer of him to leave behind computers bursting with intelligence goodies so that all his friends and associates can be traced. Shades of the Jessica Lynch show, courtesy of Pentagon Productions, or evidence that America’s enemy No. 2 is deficient in gray matter? You decide."

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

IHT.com, Central America, the forgotten frontier, "Adnan Shukrijumah, a Saudi Qaeda operative also known as the "next Mohammed Atta" and listed as one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists, was spotted in an Internet cafe in Tegucigalpa, Honduras."

Terrorists turn up the dial in global PR war | csmonitor.com ""If they can communicate [through] these tapes to us, and not worry about getting caught, they can communicate clandestinely to their followers," says Brian Jenkins, a terror expert at the RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif. "This suggests there's a bit of machinery working here.""

IHT.com, Tunisia: Behind the Western mask "Until recently, people wanting to use Tunisian Internet cafes, which are owned or supervised directly or indirectly by the state, were asked to present ID cards or their addresses. It is ironic, then, that Tunis succeeded in attracting the world's most prestigious summit on the free exchange of information."

Queens Chronicle - South Edition: "The ATF has also closely monitored cigarette sales over the last five years, during which time black market sales have risen dramatically. The agency has linked some illegal cigarette sales to the terrorist groups Hezbollah and al Qaeda." two stories on the same theme (see below) with same references to groups

How illicit labels may fund terror - National - www.theage.com.au: "The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, an organisation of trademark owners and professional investigators, claims it has established links between the counterfeit trade, organised crime and the terrorism organisations al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. It says they are using the sale of fake goods to raise and launder money." refers to ebay being awash with such fake goods (hence inclusion here). curious to see the data on this one

Thursday, November 18, 2004

No place to hide - Anti-Terror Watch - www.smh.com.au, 17 Nov 04: "Dr Alan Dupont, a former intelligence analyst now with the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, confirms 'there is no doubt that the intelligence agencies would be very happy if a lot of this off-the-shelf, high-grade cryptography was not available. Unfortunately it is, and terrorists are availing themselves of it.'"

CBS5.com - Special Report: Al Qaeda Online: "Security experts say that every moment these sites are up and accessible, they encourage other jihadists to commit acts of terrorism. Now, there's new evidence that this material is being broadcast from right here in the Bay Area." [as discussed in Islam in the Digital Age

The Times, Germans fear Islamic unrest, 17 Nov 04 "Islamic preachers in Germany have been told that they may be ordered to deliver their sermons in German rather than in Arabic in an attempt to halt racist diatribes." Media-related (rather than net related) but some interesting comments, in particular from Bassam Tibi.

IFILM, Submission link to Theo van Gogh's controversial film 'Submission'. There's a discussion on the film on MuslimWakeUp! entitled 'Irresponsible Art and Tragic Death: Theo Van Gogh's 'Submission'', written by Naeem Mohaiemen from shobak.org. Have to admit that I haven't seen the film yet, having just found these links.

Aljazeera.Net - Tape shows aid worker's alleged killing "Aljazeera, however, on Tuesday decided not to broadcast the video as it could not be sure that the woman was Hassan. An Aljazeera official said the channel would also not air it out of respect for the feelings of its audience."

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

This was blogged last week, but this article gives more detail. It has not been released in the UK, so I haven't had a chance to see it yet. There's a mini trailer on Fine Media Group's website, which also contains photos, posters (long download time), and al-Azhar approval for the film.

The Internet Security Key - Engadget - www.engadget.com "You plug it in between your PC and your cable or DSL modem, and once you remove its special card key there’s no way for your six-year-old to get online and download porn or illegally share music or visit any al-Qaeda websites ..."

Monday, November 15, 2004

Islam Online, Combat Games Appeal to Mosul Children in ‘Eid "Failing to go to the parks, play their favorite hide-and-seek and eat delicious kahk marking the start of ‘Eid Al-Fitr in the Muslim world, heavyhearted children of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have turned to fake weapons and grenades driven by a strong desire of emulating what happens on the ground."

Pentagon's $20bn war internet will 'cure world hunger' | The Register: "While inadequately-protected soldiers are being shot in Iraq, the US government expects to spend $200bn on 'a new internet' for the Department of Defense, the New York Times reports today. The Global Information Grid, or GIG, is a ten-year project to provide a completely new information network uniting the services."

"'O you heroes of Islam in Falluja ... don't be selfish with your lives,' said the voice, which the Web sites said was Zarqawi. 'America and those with them felt the winds of jihad (holy war) which will shake their thrones and foundations.' "

casperstartribune.net, Reports: Student 'obsessed with jihad', 11 Nov 04: "Walker was arrested Saturday while crossing into El Paso, Texas, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where prosecutors say he was using an Internet cafe to line up a meeting with someone known as 'Khalid' at the El Paso airport Saturday afternoon, reported the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, N.Y.

"That newspaper also quoted an FBI source as saying Walker was posting on an Internet forum under the names of 'Abdullah' and 'Abdullah313.' Among the comments he allegedly made: 'I hate the U.S. gov't; I wish I could have been flying one of the planes on Sept. 11.'"

Al-Qaida denies the killing of al-Oufi Nayef: "... the supporters of-Qaida organization in Saudi Arabia denied yesterday reports which announced the killing of their leader Saleh al-Oufi. But they did not give more light of the fate of the man who is largely believed to have had assumed the leadership of the organization in June and the disappeared from the scene."

AlterNet: MediaCulture: Farnaz Fassihi, Baghdad Diary "In August CJR asked Farnaz Fassihi, The Wall Street Journal’s Middle East correspondent, to keep a journal of her life in Iraq, where she had been since before the war, and where reporters were finding it difficult to do their job. In September, just after she sent us her report, Fassihi sent an e-mail to friends and relatives — something she does regularly. Usually, she says, these e-mails are chatty, but this one reflected her observations on an ominous sea-change: “The genie of terrorism, chaos, and mayhem has been unleashed . . . as a result of American mistakes.” Within days her private note had popped up on the Internet and circulated far and wide, even making an appearance in Doonesbury."

BBC NEWS | Magazine | An online war for hearts and minds: "The battle for Muslim minds is not being fought by radicals in Falluja or in the mosques. It is being fought on the net. And one of Europe's experts on Islam in the West says governments must rethink how they are going to win this war." This relates to Gilles Kepel's new book, The War for Muslim Minds, which has picked up on the theme of the significance of the internet in Islamic discourse. I look forward to reading this one ...

Aljazeera.Net - Hospital hit as fighting rages in Falluja: "Another Sunni grouping, the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) urged the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Arab League secretary-general and 'all those who live with a conscience around the world' to be aware of the 'massacres and elimination war' in Falluja. "

More on last week;s announcement by scholars, which featured on the al-Islam al-Youm pages: arabicnews.com, Saudi scholars: al-Jihad is a duty in Iraq; a call to avoid sedition: "The signatories of the statement which was addressed to the 'militant Iraqi people' stressed the 'special situations our people in Iraq are facing for whom support should be given together with exchanging view and consultation.' Among signatories of the message were the jurisprudence teacher at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud University in Riyadh, Sheikh Ahmad al-Khudeiri, the teacher of Sharia in Um al-Qura university ( Mecca), Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdul Latif, the ' Fiqh ' teacher in former Um al- Qura university, Sheikf Safar al-Hawali, the supervisor for ' Islam al-Youm' establishment, Sheikh Salman Bin fahd al-Odeh, Sheikh Awad al-Qarni and Sheikh Nasser al-Mar."

"As the night wore on, some of the men sat around the computer watching videos of “resistance actions” as the bombs continued to shake their city...

" ...The men watching this film, although not fighters themselves, analysed his actions and the quick reactions of the sniper much as a group of youths might replay a controversial moment in a football match. They concluded that the Shi’ite was an amateur compared with the Sunni insurgents who would soon be squaring up to the American marines in Falluja."

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Blast hits Dutch Muslim school "The Wall Street Journal today reported that investigators believed the murder suspect had contacts with Islamic militants in Spain and that the order to kill van Gogh may even have come from a fugitive militant in Spain. The main suspect was carrying a pamphlet threatening death to enemies of Islam."

Murder fuels fears among Dutch "The Dutch police on Saturday arrested two men in their 20s for allegedly distributing a video on the Internet that promised "paradise" for the beheading of Geert Wilders, an increasingly popular right-wing politician who often speaks out on the dangers of radical Islam, according to the Netherlands Press Agency. Police also detained a sixth suspect in the van Gogh killing."

NY Times/SF Gate, Risky film for lesbian, gay Muslims, "Sharma has conducted interviews throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Egypt. Many of the people he interviewed were found through the Internet."

AFP/smh.com.au, Two Bulgarian hackers arrested : "The two men sent messages from an Internet site, asking people on behalf of the Al Qaeda terror network to blow up some of the largest public buildings in downtown Sofia in return for $US10,000."

TCS: Tech Central Station - Wired Islam "In a battle with the madrasas with their fundamentalist Wahabbist outlook one of the strongest weapons the West has is the openness digital technology offers. Not to mention the sheer wealth of information and entertainment that is on the net for free." Opinion piece.

Northeast Intelligence Network, The al Qaeda Tape Furor – Reality Check: "An hour-long videotape apparently released by al-Sahab Enterprises, the public relations arm of al Qaeda was reportedly obtained by ABC News in Waziristan, Pakistan last weekend. The tape is narrated by a terrorist who identifies himself as “Assam the American”. Videotaped with his face concealed by a head dress, he spoke with an American accent and promised that the next attack will 'dwarf 9/11.'" [details of the tape and a transcript - scroll down the page for this story]

'Fatwas issued by these sheiks play a key role in releasing the sadism of terrorists and their desire for death beyond any moral bounds and feelings of guilt,' the group said in a statement to be delivered to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) this week.
"

t r u t h o u t - Sense of Dread Hangs over Fallujah as Battle Looms: "A militant group called Mohammed's Army claimed to have ambushed and killed 11 Marines trying to enter Fallujah and vowed to post photos of the dead on the Internet. Another, the Lions of God and Victorious Ali, claimed that one of its fighters shot down an American helicopter with a surface-to-air missile, and added that the rebel was 'martyred' by return fire. U.S. military spokesmen dismissed both claims ...

... Suhail al Abdali, a Fallujah fighter in his 30s who wouldn't identify the group he'd joined, said there "absolutely" were foreign Islamic extremists joining the fight. However, he emphasized, most Fallujah militants are Iraqis who are wary of the foreign extremist elements but bound by custom to accept offers of battlefield help from men they consider brothers in Islam."

Reuters | UAE president Sheikh Zayed dies
: "The president of OPEC member the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, has died and officials expect a smooth transfer of power in the oil-rich Gulf Arab country."

The Globe and Mail, Dutch filmmaker who criticized Islam slain: "Mr. Van Gogh made headlines recently with a film critical of some elements of Islamic culture. He also wrote columns about Islam which were published on his website, www.theovangogh.nl and in the Dutch newspaper Metro. It was reported he had received death threats following the airing of the film."

Monday, November 01, 2004

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Press outrage at hostage killing: "Japanese dailies are unanimous in condemning the slaying in Iraq of Japanese hostage Shosei Koda. Most back the government's stand in not giving in to terrorism, but question the wisdom of continuing the country's mission in Iraq beyond the December expiry date."

Forum 18 Archive: "Uzbekistan's former chief mufti, Muhammad Yusuf, has called for restrictions on Islam in the country to be lifted. He is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative Muslim theologians of Central Asia, and has a freedom unique in Uzbekistan to publish his views in books, on a website, and via a private radio station. "

"...The statement on the Ansar Al-Sunna website (http://ansar-alsunnah.5u.com/) said: "Your heroic brothers, the Mujahedeen (holy warriors) of Ansar Al-Sunna, executed the judgement of God by shooting dead the apostate Hassam Kamel Abdel Fattah, the deputy governor of Baghdad, as well as his driver and guards."

Research

Work in progress: Gary R. Bunt is working on a new book on Islam and the Internet - details will be posted as they become available.

Chapters in-press include a chapter on Islamic spirituality and the internet, a chapter on social media and Islam, and a chapter on the hajj and social media. A Spanish language chapter is also in-press. I am presently working on a chapter on the Qur'an and the internet

Comments - iMuslims

"iMuslims will be welcomed by all who want to understand the impact of the Internet on Islam and the Muslim world today. Gary Bunt, leading expert on Islam, provides a fascinating picture of the Internet as a vehicle for transformation of mainstream Islam as well as a propaganda and recruitment tool for militants." John L. Esposito, Georgetown University, co-author of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think

"... iMuslims is a great and much needed contribution to our understanding of the religion-technology interactions in diverse Muslim contexts. Its grand scope and empirical richness make it an indispensable source for any researcher dealing with the Internet, information and communication technology, and contemporary Islam." Vit Sisler, CyberOrient, Vol. 7, Iss. 1, 2013

" ... an interesting, easy to-digest book that is a must-read for basic and advanced courses in religious studies, digital media, and international communication. It can also be a useful guide for those interested in learning more about the fascinating world of online Islam." Mohammed el-Nawawy, American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 26:4

"iMuslims is a fascinating study about Islam’s continual internal dialogue, a dialogue that the internet has heightened. It should make atheists and Christians rethink caricatures about Islam as a timeless monolith intent on world conquest, a stereotype that habitually resurfaces. It deserves to be read by many Muslims for the same reason" Patrick West, Culture Wars

"Many scholars have commented on online Islam, and a few have undertaken research, but only Bunt has developed a comprehensive approach to chronicling Muslims' uptake of the full range of cyber-technologies. iMuslims is a significant book for both religious studies and policy studies." Jon W. Anderson, coeditor of Reformatting Politics: Information Technology and Global Civic Society

"Bunt demonstrates an unparalleled command of the many and diverse manifestations of Islam on the Internet. Thoroughly comprehensive and up-to-date, iMuslims offers a wealth of examples throughout, allowing the reader to come away with a firm sense of the rich world of 'cyber-Islamic environments.'" Peter Mandaville, author of Global Political Islam

"Bunt confirms his pre-eminence in the study of Islam and new information technologies with this incisive and timely i-Muslims. This work expertly examines how Muslim digitisation and 'wiring' are likely producing new transformations in the understanding and practice of Islam, and importantly in the religious authority to interpret it, which go to the heart of the current critical debate over who speaks for Islam." James Piscatori, Professor of International Relations, University of Durham

"Bunt redirects our attention from the web to the Muslims who make use of it. The study of Islam on the internet has come of age." Jakob Skovgaard- Petersen, Director of the Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute in Cairo

"This book provides a refreshing report on the world's contemporary Muslim community, and raises stimulating questions that will contribute to the ongoing discussion on the adaptability of religion in the computer age." Clifton Martin, MEI Bulletin [links to pdf]

"With this eclectic monograph, Gary R. Bunt, a senior lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, cements his reputation as the most prominent and prolific scholar of today's 'cyber-Islamic landscape.' Robert Rozehnal, Middle East Journal, Winter 2010

"iMuslims in an excellent guide to the emergence of 'specific forms of online Islam'. What is really new, as Bunt shows so powerfully, is the contribution of concerned and thinking Muslims, with no background in traditional education..." Adnan Farooqi, The Book Review, February 2010

"His study is laudable for breaking ground in an area that is inherently difficult to research due to its scope, complexity, vagueness, and expansiveness." Gabriel Weimann, Sociology of Religion,

""iMuslims is the best overview of the Muslim Internet to date. It is up-to-date, comprehensive, and should be compulsory reading for students and scholars of Islam, media, and politics in the Middle East."Sune Haugbolle, H-Net

" ... the book can be recommended for the general public because it explains Islamic terms from the outset without requiring prior knowledge, for security authorities interested in the development and range of e-jihad, and for scholars who need a reliable survey of and information on the broad spectrum of CIEs in the early twenty- first century." Jens Kutscher, H-Soz-u-Kult

"The hundreds of examples included in iMuslims will undoubtedly be most useful to those unfamiliar with the virtual landscape of ever expanding CIEs [Cyber Islamic Environments]." Roxanne D. Marcotte, MESA Review of Middle East Studies

"" ... the clear strength of iMuslims rests in boldly going where many have not: laying the groundwork and asking scholars to unpack what, at first pass, looks to many like unholy bedfellows for the sake of understanding the effect of Internet technologies on theology. Like any piece of original software, the bugs and glitches may be overlooked while users eagerly await an upgrade." Dominic Bocci, Muftah.org

"The text is suitable for both the undergraduate and graduate classroom. It is written in accessible language and will appeal to the specialist and non-specialist alike. Bunt's work fills a niche market that has received less academic attention than it deserves." Review in International Journal of Middle East Studies by Dr Deborah L. Wheeler. Volume 44, Issue 03, August 2012, pp 612-614

Machine translations of Virtually Islamic

Important note to readers of translated pages: these are machine translations only, with all their attendant technical and linguistic ambiguities and idiosyncracies - despite this, I hope you find them useful!